Walgreens Boots Alliance Q3 profits beat expectations

(Sharecast News) - Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance reported Q3 profits that came in ahead of Wall Street expectations. Walgreens said adjusted earnings per share came to $0.38 in the three months ended 31 May, above analyst estimates of $0.31 but down from $0.63 a year ago, primarily due to a higher adjusted effective tax rate, increased incentive accruals, lower US retail sales and lower equity earnings in its Cencora unit, partly offset by cost savings within its US retail pharmacy division.

Revenues grew 7.2% to $39.0bn, beating expectations of $36.8bn.

Walgreens also noted that, given its pending sale to Sycamore Partners, it has withdrawn its fiscal 2025 guidance.

Chief executive Tim Wentworth said: "Third quarter results reflect continued improvement in our US healthcare segment and benefits from our cost savings initiatives, while we continued to see weakness in our US front-end sales.

"We remain focused on our turnaround plan, which will require time, disciplined focus and a balanced approach to manage future cash needs with investments necessary to navigate an evolving pharmacy and retail environment."

As of 1400 BST, Walgreens shares were down 0.62% in pre-market trading at $11.38 each.





Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com